Finding connections
‘Jagged Little Pill’ musical coming to The Bushnell sets the story of discovery, recovery and irony to Alanis Morissette songs
Alanis Morissette’s multi-platinum 1995 album “Jagged Little Pill” spoke to a generation. Now the Broadway musical based on those songs, including the hit singles “You Oughtta Know,” “Hand in Pocket,” “Ironic” and “Head Over Feet,” is finding its own connections with the youth of today, not to mention their parents.
The national tour of “Jagged Little Pill” might resonate even more strongly when it plays The Bushnell May 9-14 because it’s set in Connecticut.
The musical, with a book by famed indie screenwriter Diablo Cody (“Juno,” “Jennifer’s Body”), puts the album’s songs in the context of a modern family dealing with communication problems, expectations, relationships,
addictions and personal trauma. The director is Diane Paulus, whose other Broadway credits include “Waitress” and “Finding Neverland,” as well as noteworthy revivals of “1776,” “Pippin” and “Hair.”
“The show is about this family which may look like a normal family, but when you look through the cracks there are these deep-rooted struggles they have to overcome,” said Dillon
Klena. He plays Nick Healy, a Harvardbound high school student who’s spent his life living up to his parents’ expectations while not considering his own feelings and dreams.
The whole Healy family has personal issues and secrets they are not sharing with each other. The deceptions, and self-deceptions, come to a head through difficult confrontations but also through counseling sessions, confessions and soul-searching.
“Jagged Little Pill,” Klena said, is concerned with recovery and self-awareness. “We want people to feel welcomed. It’s about being comfortable with your own truth.”
He also points out how funny the show can get. “We really play into that ‘90s feel. It’s very grungy, very Alanis
Morissette. Diablo Cody is an amazing writer in the dark comedy of it all. There are some very dark issues, but somehow you’ll laugh.”
Morissette was directly involved with the musical’s creation and remains “a huge advocate for the show,” Klena said. “When the tour started, we worked with her personally and got to ask her questions. We just saw her again in Washington, D.C. a few weeks ago.”
Morissette was in D.C. at the same time, speaking at the Psychotherapy Networking Symposium, and stopped by to see the cast. Her longtime advocacy for mental health issues helped shape the “Jagged Little Pill” musical.
“Jukebox musicals have this stigma of songs just being thrown in there,” Klena said. He said “Jagged Little Pill” stands out in the way it “makes an original story that actually makes sense” out of the album’s songs, but also insists that there is no attempt to fix one certain meaning on the material. He agrees that every listener has their own take on the songs. “Each song can be portrayed differently. When these characters sing them, that’s their interpretation.”
Some songs lead to heightened drama while others are humorously analyzed. “Ironic” is presented in a classroom setting, with students pointing out that the lyrics’ supposed examples of irony don’t in fact fit the dictionary definition of that word.
Besides the songs from “Jagged Little Pill” — one of the bestselling pop albums of all time — the musical also contains songs from other Morissette albums, including “So Unsexy” from “Under Rug Swept” and “That I Would Be Good” from “Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie,” as well as two new songs written expressly for the show.
“Jagged Little Pill” was developed at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Paulus is the artistic director, and opened on Broadway at the end of 2019. Its run was heavily compromised by the COVID-19 pandemic, first by the shutdown of all Broadway theaters just a few months after it opened, then by some COVID outbreaks in the cast once it reopened in 2021.
“This show lived a short time on Broadway. I wish it got the respect it deserves,” Klena said. The tour hopes to remedy that, and also positions “Jagged Little Pill” for a healthy afterlife when the performance rights are eventually made available to college theaters, regional theaters and community theaters.
There have been a few minor revisions to the script, as often happens when a Broadway show heads out on tour and the creators can revisit it. The biggest difference between the New York production and the tour, Klena said, is the technical design, which is understandably not as elaborate.
When the tour began, Paulus sat the actors down and explained each character in the show, what they are trying to portray and how they are trying to move forward,” Klena said.
Klena has been on the “Jagged Little Pill” tour since it began in July and hopes to stay with it as long as it lasts. He said many in the cast are “kind of really young, experiencing the journey of a tour for the first time together. Growing up, I never thought I’d do a tour. There’s a lot of selfcare involved, but the pros outweigh the cons. I’ve never made it to this point in my career before. I’m going to hold onto this.”
Klena was born and raised in Los Angeles. If his last name sounds familiar, it’s because his brother Derek Klena was in Hartford in a very different musical about impetuous youthful flings into the unknown, the pre-Broadway try-out of “Anastasia” at Hartford Stage in 2016. It was Derek who originated the role of Nick in “Jagged Little Pill,” which is now played by Dillon.
“I enjoy this show and this character a lot,” Dillon Klena said. “He’s this perfect child who’s never questioned anything and is starting to say ‘I don’t know if this is what I want.’ He’s suffering through these feelings about his identity. People resonate with Nick a lot. They come find me at the stage door after a show and tell me ‘I was just like Nick. Thank you for telling that story.’”
“Jagged Little Pill” runs May 9-14 at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. Performances are Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. $51.50$139.50. bushnell.org.